CLERMONT — Did you know that Guru Indian Restaurant has a vegan menu that has become a favorite among diners seeking out sumptuous and flavorful plant-based cuisine?
Owner/Master Chef Uday Kadam has run the tastefully decorated restaurant for the past decade. He chose the name “Guru” because he says he wants to be a “sharing teacher.”
These days, Kadam is teaching diners, through his artful plating and presentation, that you don’t necessarily have to order meat to enjoy a filling meal.
First, a primer: A vegan avoids consuming dairy, eggs, and any other ingredients derived from animals, in contrast to a vegetarian, who doesn’t eat any animal flesh such as meat, poultry, or fish, nor any of the by-products but may enjoy cheese or milk products. An omnivore enjoys all types of plant-and-animal-based cuisines, and carnivores primarily enjoy meat.
Guru’s master chef took a moment to explain some of the restaurant’s basic vegan dishes to help guide your savory experiences.
Guru’s Palak Sabji Dalwith, he explained, contains spinach, mixed vegetables cooked with lentils, herbs and spices.
Southern Indian cuisine is brimming with great recipes that include spinach and chick peas. Guru’s Chana Saagmade has chickpeas and spinach cooked with spices and herbs, and Aloo Gobi is made up of cauliflower and potatoes cooked in onion and tomato with herbs and spices.
Aloo Mutter includes green peas, as well as potatoes cooked with herbs and spices, and Aloo Palak offers you potatoes and spinach cooked with fresh pounded spices. Eggplant, peas, onion, tomato and fresh spices go into Guru’s Baingan Bharta.
But, wait, that’s not all. Bhindi Masala has okra cooked with tomatoes and onion, chilis and spices. Potatoes spiked with mustard seeds along with fresh vegetables cooked with herbs and spices make up their Bombay Aloo Cubes.
Don’t worry if you have omnivores, lacto-ovo vegetarians and carnivores in your party. Guru serves animal-derived ingredients too in popular items such as their Malai Kofta (vegetable dumplings with raisins in a creamy sauce with rice) and Butter Chicken. To read more about what Guru Indian Restaurant serves, click on their 50-plus-item menu at gururestaurant.hrpos.heartland.us/menu.
“Guru is the perfect location to celebrate Mother’s and Father’s Day along with anniversaries, graduations, and birthdays as well as any office meeting or party,” Kadam urged.
Guru Indian Restaurant offers dine-in, takeout, delivery and catering services. Find it at 2400 U.S. 27, Suite 101, Clermont. Hours are 11:30 a.m. to 10 p.m. Monday through Saturday and 7 p.m. on Sundays. For more information, call 352-241-9884, visit MyGuruToGo.com or check out Facebook at facebook.com/gururestaurantclermont.